1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective helmet, and more particularly to a protective helmet having a device for attaching a respiratory mask.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Protective helmets have long been used in various fields, including professional fields such as the case for military personnel, police officers, or firefighters, and civilian or private fields.
For example, European Patent Publication 0 105 813 discloses a helmet which can be used with a breathing, or respiratory, mask of the type according to which the latter is held on the shell of the helmet by two lateral arms comprising hooks on their ends, adapted to removably engage with two attachment notches made in the side walls of the helmet. This type of arrangement is particularly practical and currently used by numerous firefighters. However, despite the telescopic effect of the lateral arms, adapted to give the mask pressure on the face which is both secure and comfortable, it happens that in certain cases the automatic adaptation is faulty.
An object of the invention, therefore, is to overcome the aforementioned drawback by enabling adaptation of the position of the respiratory mask, on the one hand, to the dimensions of the helmet, and especially to the dimensions of the shell and/or the adjustments of the internal elements, such as the band and the lining, and, on the other hand, to the dimensions of the head, and especially to the face of the user. To this end, the helmet of the invention comprises an arrangement for adjusting the position of the device for attaching the mask.
Thus, the protective helmet of the invention is of the type comprising a device for attaching a respiratory mask, wherein it includes an arrangement for adjusting the position of the attachment device, enabling the positioning thereof in at least two positions.
According to an additional characteristic, the attachment device includes an attachment notch or an attachment protrusion made in one piece with the helmet, while, according to a preferred embodiment, the attachment notch or the attachment protrusion is made in one piece with an attachment part adjustably affixed to the shell of the helmet to enable modification of the position thereof.
Additionally, the protective helmet of the invention comprises an external shell comprising two side walls corresponding to the zones occupied by the ears of the user with the understanding that each of these side walls comprises an attachment part.
Moreover, the adjustment arrangement may be continuous or discontinuous to enable either fine adjustment or step-by-step adjustment at two, or even more, for example, three, successive positions.
According to a preferred embodiment, the adjustment arrangement includes a succession of protrusions formed in one piece with the shell and cooperating with a succession of recessed sections obtained in the attachment part or conversely, while a locking mechanism is provided to lock the attachment part in the position selected, once this has been determined.
According to another embodiment, at least one of the attachment parts is affixed to the shell of the helmet by an intermediate part and, according to a preferred embodiment, this intermediate part includes of an open stirrup, which is open toward the front to be affixed to the outside of the shell.